Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N7/00—Television systems
  • H04N7/10—Adaptations for transmission by electrical cable
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N7/00—Television systems
  • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
  • H04N7/173—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
  • H04N7/17309—Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03M—CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL
  • H03M3/00—Conversion of analogue values to or from differential modulation
  • H03M3/30—Delta-sigma modulation
  • H03M3/458—Analogue/digital converters using delta-sigma modulation as an intermediate step
  • H03M3/476—Non-linear conversion systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B10/00—Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing corpuscular radiation, e.g. quantum communication
  • H04B10/25—Arrangements specific to fibre transmission
  • H04B10/2575—Radio-over-fibre, e.g. radio frequency signal modulated onto an optical carrier
  • H04B10/25751—Optical arrangements for CATV or video distribution
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B10/00—Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing corpuscular radiation, e.g. quantum communication
  • H04B10/50—Transmitters
  • H04B10/501—Structural aspects
  • H04B10/503—Laser transmitters
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B10/00—Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing corpuscular radiation, e.g. quantum communication
  • H04B10/50—Transmitters
  • H04B10/516—Details of coding or modulation
  • H04B10/54—Intensity modulation
  • H04B10/541—Digital intensity or amplitude modulation
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
  • H04N21/61—Network physical structure; Signal processing
  • H04N21/6106—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network
  • H04N21/6118—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
  • H04N21/61—Network physical structure; Signal processing
  • H04N21/6156—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the upstream path of the transmission network
  • H04N21/6168—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the upstream path of the transmission network involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03M—CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL
  • H03M3/00—Conversion of analogue values to or from differential modulation
  • H03M3/30—Delta-sigma modulation
  • H03M3/39—Structural details of delta-sigma modulators, e.g. incremental delta-sigma modulators
  • H03M3/412—Structural details of delta-sigma modulators, e.g. incremental delta-sigma modulators characterised by the number of quantisers and their type and resolution
  • H03M3/422—Structural details of delta-sigma modulators, e.g. incremental delta-sigma modulators characterised by the number of quantisers and their type and resolution having one quantiser only
  • H03M3/424—Structural details of delta-sigma modulators, e.g. incremental delta-sigma modulators characterised by the number of quantisers and their type and resolution having one quantiser only the quantiser being a multiple bit one

Definitions

• the present invention is related to an invention that is the subject matter of a commonly-assigned co-pending application entitled "HFC Return Path System Using Digital Conversion and Transport” filed on April 21, 2000 and assigned Serial No. 09/556,731, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
• the present invention relates generally to improving cable television hybrid- fiber-coax (CATV HFC) network performance, and more particularly to the application of digital signal processing techniques for improved performance of the HFC return path using digital return solutions.
• CATV HFC cable television hybrid- fiber-coax
• Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) cable television (CATV) systems have evolved into two-way digital networks within the last decade. Essentially a network headend transmits signals to a plurality of remote points in a first, "forward” or “downstream” direction. Signals are transmitted from the remote points to the headend in a second, “reverse” or “upstream” direction. In the reverse path, the transport systems as well as the information payload has become digital in nature, evolving from linear optics moving the return spectrum from fiber optic nodes to processing centers, to baseband digital transport systems.
• FIGURE 1 shows a block diagram of such a system.
• the system of FIGURE 1 is described in detail under separate disclosure as noted above under Cross-Reference to Related Applications.
• the return path signal from the fiber optic node to the headend is represented by encoding it entirely as ones and zeroes.
• the composite return path waveform is converted to a sequence of digital words whose value represent analog signal samples (A/D 100), the digital words are arranged into a serial stream with appropriate synchronization information (Serializer/Deserializer 110), and the electrical digital signal is converted into an optical digital signal and transmitted across the optical fiber (Optical TX 120).
• the optical path carries the signals to the headend which has the proper components for receiving and processing the optical signals, i.e., the process is inverted at the receive side (Optical RX 130, Serializer/Deserializer 140, D/A 150).
• Optical RX 130, Serializer/Deserializer 140, D/A 150 The use of this digital optical technology provides many key advantages compared to traditional analog systems. Among these are longer distance capability, performance insensitivity to length, environmental robustness, cost benefits, and interface flexibility.
• the performance of digital return links can be compared favorably to their analog counterparts. Additionally, the performance can be flexibly traded off against bandwidth. This occurs by noting that less Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter bits of resolution used set the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the signal being transported. Less bits to transport means lower SNR, but also a lower data rate. More bits means a higher SNR at 6 dB/bit As such, it is advantageous to find ways to improve the SNR after A/D conversion for lower resolution conversions. If the SNR can be increased by signal processing, a lower number of bits of transport can be used to meet a given SNR compared to the basic digital return system in FIGURE 1. Such an approach fits broadly into the category of noise shaping technology.
• A/D Analog-to-Digital
• SNR signal-to-noise ratio
• HFC architecture design involves more complexity than this single point-to-point example.
• received inputs from topologically diverse nodes are combined (RF summed) at the Headend.
• RF summed received inputs from topologically diverse nodes
• Each such combine entails a noise penalty of 3 dB, or effectively decreases the resolution of the A/D system by one-half of a bit.
• a system designed with 10-bit A/D converter in the field, and combined four ways at the Headend has the theoretical performance of an 8-bit system.
• the present invention is therefore directed to improving the performance of a CATV HFC baseband digital optical transmission return path using cost effective digital solutions.
• a system for improving the performance of the HFC return path implements a DSP approach to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), thereby improving the performance of the HFC return path without resorting to higher resolution A/D converters.
• the approach uses well-known signal processing architectures applied to an RF system to achieve in-band quantization noise reduction.
• the technique is applicable to any HFC return architecture that uses a baseband digital optical transmission in the reverse path implementation.
• One exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a system and method for increasing the performance of a digital return path in a hybrid-fiber-coax television system using baseband serial optical transport, receives an analog composite return path waveform at a comparator input to a digital return transmitter that includes an A/D converter and a first nonlinear processor.
• a first processing function is applied to a signal output from the comparator at the first nonlinear processor and the processed signal is forwarded to the A/D converter which converts the processed signal to generate a quantized output signal of a sequence of digital words whose value represent analog signal samples.
• the quantized digital signal is output to an output of the digital return transmitter and to a feedback loop including a D/A converter, which converts the quantized digital signal to an analog feedback signal and forwards the analog feedback signal to a second processor.
• the second processor applies a second processing function to the analog feedback signal and outputs the processed analog feedback signal to the comparator input of the digital return transmitter.
• the comparator input to the digital return transmitter adds the processed analog feedback signal to the analog composite return path waveform to create the signal output from the comparator.
• the method further includes the step of lowpass filtering the quantized digital signal and in yet a further embodiment, the step of downsampling the filtered quantized digital signal.
• FIGURE 1 depicts the basic elements of a hybrid fiber-coax digital return path transport system.
• FIGURE 2 depicts a simplified block diagram of a digital return transmitter with nonlinear processor.
• FIGURE 3 illustrates the quantization noise spectrum of an A D converter with noise-like input.
• FIGURE 4 illustrates the shaped quantization noise spectrum vs. unprocessed quantization noise spectrum.
• FIGURE 5 graphs the rms noise vs oversampling ratio and illustrates the effect of nonlinear feedback on quantization noise performance.
• FIGURE 6 depicts a simplified block diagram of a first sigma-delta A/D converter including a first order modulator and a digital decimator.
• FIGURE 2 shows an example topology of an A/D converter with additional functional block diagrams which perform digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms designed to improve the SNR compared to a system that does not perform the processing functions.
• DSP digital signal processing
• the system shown in FIGURE 2 illustrates a processor and A/D converter in which an analog input signal A(s) is input to a comparator 10, the output of which is coupled to a nonlinear processor H(s) 20, the output of which is coupled to A/D converter 30.
• the output of A/D converter 30 is coupled to a D/A converter 40 and processor F(s) 50 in the feedback loop to the input comparator 10.
• the input to the circuit is fed to the quantizer via the nonlinear processor, and the quantized output is fed back through D/A converter 40 which converts each sample of the digital signal to generate the analog feedback signal which is coupled and subtracted from the input, forcing the average value of the quantized signal to track the average input.
• D/A converter 40 converts each sample of the digital signal to generate the analog feedback signal which is coupled and subtracted from the input, forcing the average value of the quantized signal to track the average input.
• the quantization level is typically of lower resolution due to the ability to implement DSP more effectively at the low speeds typically used.
• the implementation of the DSP algorithms is significantly increased in complexity and design due to the nature of the high speed processing necessary.
• FIGURE 3 shows a sampled output spectrum with typical relationships between the three parameters above. The higher the clock frequency is relative to the reverse path bandwidth B n ⁇ , the lower the spectral density becomes, providing a means to lower the noise power in the reverse bandwidth.
• FIGURE 3 shows this example where the clock frequency is increased, going from B Consumer ⁇ to B n2 , and lowering the spectral density.
• the same amount of noise power determined by the resolution of the A D, is spread over a wider Nyquist bandwidth.
• FIGURE 2 shows a diagram of a nonlinear processor, H(s) which implements a transfer function that provides this capability.
• processor F(s) in the feedback loop may provide additional filtering as needed.
• H(s) and F(s) can take on many topologies, depending on improvement desired and complexity of implementation. The nonlinear nature however makes precise analysis difficult, especially when higher order architectures are used. In many cases behavior may only characterized through simulations.
• FIGURE 4 An exemplary resulting noise spectrum from such a processor is shown in FIGURE 4.
• the spectrum which previously had a uniform density (white) out to B n , is no longer flat.
• the noise power between the uniform density and nonuniform density is the same, but in the latter case, the power is shifted into the region of spectrum between B nl and B n2 . That is, the modulator 'shapes' the quantization noise so that most of the energy will be above the signal bandwidth. Since the reverse system bandwidth is B n ⁇ , the region which now contains the bulk of the noise power can be filtered with no effect on the desired signal. With much of the noise now shifted into this region, the noise power within the signaling band has been reduced.
• This reduction of noise power is equivalent to the effect of using a higher resolution A/D converter in that region of the sampled spectrum. Since the region of the sampled spectrum in which noise reduction occurs is the only one of concern, this technique essentially provides an effective bit increase proportional to the drop in noise power within B n ). In a representative example of what can be expected, SNR improvements of 20 dB can be achieved, which corresponds to over three bits of additional resolution. The exact gain is highly dependent upon amount of oversampling and the architecture of the nonlinear processor.
• a digital lowpass filtering stage may be implemented to smooth the output of the digital modulator, greatly attenuating out-of-band quantization noise, interference and high frequency components of the signal.
• downsampling can be implemented to bring the sampled signal to the Nyquist rate.
• FIGURE 5 plots the in-band noise against the oversampling ratio for examples of PCM and one, two and three feedback loops.
• the above describes a DSP approach to increasing the performance of the HFC return path without resorting to higher resolution A/D converters.
• the approach uses well-known signal processing architectures applied to an RF system to achieve in-band quantization noise reduction.
• the individual components are known and widely available.
• the technique is applicable to any HFC return architecture which uses a baseband digital optical transmission in the reverse path implementation.
• processor F(s) like processor H(s), can take on any variety of transfer function responses to serve application performance requirements.
• this exemplary modification should not be interpreted to limit the modifications and variations of the invention covered by the claims but are merely illustrative of possible variations.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Nonlinear Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Optical Communication System (AREA)
• Compression, Expansion, Code Conversion, And Decoders (AREA)
• Analogue/Digital Conversion (AREA)
• Cable Transmission Systems, Equalization Of Radio And Reduction Of Echo (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
• Transmission Systems Not Characterized By The Medium Used For Transmission (AREA)

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• 2001
  • 2001-02-28 DE DE60116614T patent/DE60116614T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-02-28 AU AU2001250785A patent/AU2001250785A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-02-28 EP EP01924102A patent/EP1260039B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-02-28 US US09/795,684 patent/US20020010942A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-02-28 MX MXPA02008400A patent/MXPA02008400A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2001-02-28 CN CN01805808A patent/CN1406418A/zh active Pending
  • 2001-02-28 CA CA002400150A patent/CA2400150A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-02-28 KR KR1020027010981A patent/KR20020093818A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2001-02-28 JP JP2001564495A patent/JP2003526254A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-02-28 WO PCT/US2001/006366 patent/WO2001065732A2/en active IP Right Grant

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